As with all of the arts, literature was once upon a time entirely made possible through patrons. This goes at least as far back as Shakespeare and Ben Jonson. They were able to write because their patrons provided them financial support. And this was of course true of all of the other arts. Beginning in the middle of the nineteenth century, however, literature and commerce got mixed.

In some sense, there is a link between these areas of art/writing and funding and what we see in social media influencers who in some sense are trying to create an "art" for which they get paid. Sadly, most are not making art and worse, most of them are being paid even worse.